Brave Ones
by thisishowiloveyou
Summary: Byakuya and Orihime! no greater pairing in all of Soul Society!
1. Chapter 1

Brave Ones

She wasn't supposed to love him, and he wasn't supposed to adore her. But how it came to this, to him slowly pushing her hair off her neck as she slept, he knew exactly.

She was nothing more than a talented child, a comrade of Kurosaki's. The first ten times or so that he saw her he made note of nothing else than her growing reiatsu, which still remained inconsequential in comparison to any seated shinigami officer. But when he saw her for the first time after the Winter War began, something in her had changed. It was as though she had become a woman in too short a time and was still trying to fit into herself. She was…braver. Not just to enemies, but to her friends. She (gently) rebuffed Kurosaki's protection; instead, it was she who saved him on occasion. While her will and power quickly grew to equal that of her comrades, her eyes still remained wide and innocent, though less naïve. And her capacity to love remained, through the horrors she, he, and everyone else endured.

That's what had made him kneel down next to her one night as their group rested from battle.

"Inoue."

She looked up, startled.

"Kuchiki Taichou!"

"You did well today."

"Thank you, Taichou."

Then he stood up and walked away.

That night he sat far away from her and watched her fitfully sleep. He watched her rise and pace for over an hour, occasionally fingering her hairpins. He would have watched her descend once more into sleep but the thought that he cared whether or not she slept well startled him. Then he startled himself by realizing that he'd been watching the woman for over an hour. He immediately turned around and began mentally running through the day's battles.

The next weeks were for fighting, not for contemplation. But he still knew her location at all times and sent Renji when he could spare him with strict instructions to "monitor the human woman's condition". Even Renji wasn't fooled by the euphemistic wording, but he honorably kept his questions expressed only in his eyes.

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One night, two weeks into the War, Kuchiki Byakuya stood by himself watching the night sky. He felt her long before she spoke.

Finally, "I need to check on your hands, Kuchiki Taichou".

"They are healing."

"I know, Taichou-san, but I need to make sure of their progress. Please."

He barely turned to his right and without moving his eyes from the star he had been trying to concentrate on, offered his hands palms up to her.

The star became increasingly less interesting as Orihime ran her hands over his. Her careful fingers gently stroked his newly formed scars. Byakuya found it harder and harder to count the twinkles that his star made, to focus on the day's failures, to keep his heart beating quietly. He closed his eyes in a vain attempt to shut off some of his senses but when the darkness formed, another vision appeared. Hisana. Just her face, just for a moment.

_Forgive me my childishness._

"That's enough, Inoue. My hands are fine."

"Yes, Kuchiki Taichou, I think they are but I'm not finished."

"That's enough."

"Yes Kuchiki Taichou."

As Orihime walked away she wondered what his problem was and silently wished she didn't have to deal with the cold, reserved captain. Then she immediately felt guilty for being so cruel.

_Forgive me my anger._

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"Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun! Put…me…down…!" Orihime's laughter brightened the convoluted landscape like cherry blossoms falling on a placid pond.

"InoueInoueInoueInoue!" Ichigo breathed into her hair, "I was afraid you were gone."

"Never Kurosaki-kun. I could never leave the ones I love", and she laughed again as he threw her in the air and caught her. Then he was swinging her around by the waist and chanting her name like the taste of it would never sour in his mouth. And Byakuya watched.

Could he tell her that for the three days she had again become Aizen's captive, he had not slept? Could he tell her that it was he who figured out the most likely place she was being kept, he who had only disarmed and stunned her captors because he knew she would never approve of killing in her name? That it was he who had lifted her off the floor where Ichimaru had dumped her, he who had carried her against his heartbeat to Unohana, he who had had to let her go into the healers arms?

He who had told Kurosaki Ichigo coldly that if you want a woman to want you, every time you say her name, only say it loudly enough for the two of you to hear? He who had only hoped Kurosaki was stupid enough to take his advice as just advice, and not see it as what it was-a desperate attempt to release himself of his attraction to Orihime.

Byakuya turned to ask Renji for a report before he realized that Renji now had Orihime in his arms as well Ichigo, who would release the young woman for nothing.

_Forgive me, I am not the man I should be._

Orihime buried her face in Renji's hair, not so much for the intimacy of friendship as to momentarily disguise where her eyes were drawn. She knew that heartbeat, the one that had carried her to Unohana, without having to open her eyes. His hands were still not healed, but they were getting better, day by day.

_Forgive me, I am not as observant as I should be. _

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The day before the end battle found Kuchiki Byakuya in Inoue Orihime's lap. He had wanted the next words he spoke to her to be said in a less humiliating position, but as his blood poured onto her skirt he assumed this would have to do.

"Inoue, do not waste your energy on me. Your friends are also wounded."

"There is more than one healer here. Please, Kuchiki Taichou, stop talking."

"I must…I must…"

"Shhhh, Kuchiki-san. You will be fine in a few moments, and you can tell me then."

But he knew she was lying. Her frown and drawn eyebrows told him that Aizen's death-blow was as effective as he had thought.

"Thank you, Inoue."

"Of course!" the young woman replied, distracted.

"It is enough to die knowing that you live."

"Yes, Kuchiki, I…wait, what did you say?"

"You love even though you lost the closest person…your brother…and you love those who would kill you. How am I to not be affected by this?"

"Kuchiki Taichou, you've lost a lot of blood…"

"…I searched," Byakuya quietly gasped, "….the eyes of every woman I knew for one thing…anything that reminded me…of my Hisana. Then I stopped…searching…when I realized that it could never be. But here you are; what reminds me of her is the way I feel for you".

_Forgive me, I am an unfaithful husband._

_Forgive me, I am a hopeful woman. _

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Orihime's arm kept twitching. She told it to stop repeatedly, but it kept twitching as though it had the right. She massaged it at first, then scolded it, then punched it. She realized too late that all her squirming might wake the handsome resting captain. Silver eyes met hazel ones.

"What is this?" he whispered.

"Kuchiki Taichou! You're in the fourth divisions' recovery wing. You've been asleep for four days." Then, with a blush, "I've been tending to you."

"I believed I would die."

"Yes," Orihime answered and dropped her gaze low. "I know." He was alive, that was what mattered. It had to be all that mattered.

_Then why do I feel so empty?_

"Inoue," Byakuya started, turning his face towards hers, "The things I said to you on the battlefield…"

_Oh, that's why._

"I understand, you thought you were dying…"

"It was all true…"

"And so you said things you didn't mean…"

"I told you then because I believed Hisana already knew my heart…"

"Because you still love your late wife…"

"And I believe she has forgiven me…"

"And I am just a human…"

"For feeling this way about a woman…"

"Without any distinguishing features…"

"As incredible as you…"

"For someone as handsome and brave as you…"

"Even though you insist on speaking when I am in the middle of a speech…"

"Even though you never smile…"

"I love you…"

"I love you…"

"despite my fear."

"despite my inexperience."

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Some nights later, Orihime lay in her lover's bed, _his _bed, pretending to be asleep. Her lover pretended not to know. As he stroked her hair he let his eyes roam over her naked back, so slender, her naked hips, so soft, her naked legs, so pliable. He leaned his own bare chest onto her back and began a trail of kisses up to her ear. Destination reached, he whispered softly of his love for her, of his enchantment with her mind and power and breasts, of his suspicion that Renji knew who his thoughts were on all day, and of the Vice-Captain's stubborn refusal to let anyone say his captain had become soft. Byakuya laughed gently thinking of Renji, and promised the breeze coming in through the open doors that he would return to whatever battles were to be had soon, when he could part himself from his hazel-eyed nymph. Oh, yes, he knew how she had come to be in his bed. She had let go of her love for a friend who was too young to understand her, and he had whispered a soft farewell under a cherry blossom tree to the memory of a beloved wife who had understood him but nothing more.

_Forgive us nothing, we are the brave ones._

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Authors Note:

Thanks for the great reviews! It means a lot to me that you took the time and effort to be encouraging. Some people suggested maybe this should be a more developed story...so I've decided to add to it. Look for updates soon!


	2. II

Hey

Hello! Thanks for the reviews, I'm writing as fast as I can without straying from the real characters. This chapter gave me a lot of grief-writing more was probably not a good idea! Since I wrote it as a one-shot to begin with, I really had to think about this. Thank you for reading it…

Brave Ones

II

If anyone could've found Orihime, that'd be wonderful.

But no one, except one, could.

And no one, except one, would.

The young woman knelt on the ground haphazardly, as though very tired. Her kidou-like wall surrounding her was a technical invisibility shield. She could've watched the cherry blossoms fall to the grass, but she chose instead to imitate them and bent her head low. Eyes shut, she listened. He would come.

_Leave me, my love._

Long after the golden rays of sun turned to silver shimmers of moon, he arrived. His eyes scanned the delicate trees and he frowned.

"Orihime, beloved," he started, face impassive and voice even. But then his eyebrows furrowed slightly, temporary making his beautiful face look human. He didn't know where she was exactly, but she was here somewhere. Orihime watched as her lover kneeled silently on the ground, head bent, unbound black hair falling into his eyes. He stayed in that unintentionally similar position for a very long time. Orihime eventually stood and walked to his side, still under her cover. She knelt next to him and slowly let her barrier go as she leaned against him. He was startled even though he had felt her coming closer. It had felt like when his mother, so long ago, had put him to sleep by running her fingertips just over the hair on his forearms. The lightest touch, that's all he felt of her, and it was more than anyone else could when she decided to throw up her barriers.

He kept his body and voice unwavering. "Tell me, my love."

_Just please don't leave me._

"I don't want you to be upset," she began.

He steeled himself for the worst.

"At first I thought I could've prevented this all by just be open, but now I see it's the whole thing. It's us."

"Tell me what you are trying to say." His voice was controlled but harsh from panic.

"I've lost one of my best friends because of my relationship with you, and I don't know what to do," she answered quietly and then began to cry into his robes.

He couldn't help but wrap his arms around her shaking body; he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

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Kuchiki Rukia lay on her bedroll, but she wasn't sleeping. She stared out at the night through her open door. The breeze kept her cool and her guilt kept her awake. She shouldn't have yelled at Orihime like that, she shouldn't have told her she hated her.

And yet…how could her friend love her brother? He loved her? He loved no one…no one. But maybe her, his adoptive sister. Orihime had really stolen his heart? His heart? Her heart?

She didn't see her brother standing outside, nor feel him immediately when he picked her up from the floor. She realized soon though that she was crying into a strong chest that smelled lightly of cherry blossoms. The scent only made her cry harder.

_Please don't leave me_

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Two days later Kuchiki Byakuya stared frowning into his tea. Sunlight from the window cast deep shadows on the bare floor but Byakuya couldn't bring himself to enjoy the warm golden rays. Not today.

"Uh…Captain? Do you want me to warm up your tea again?"

Byakuya was nearly startled to hear Renji's voice, so deep in thought as he was. He didn't turn because he didn't need to. He knew his vice-captain would be sitting a few feet away from him, watching him anxiously.

"I'm fine Renji. You may leave for the day," he politely commanded.

"Oh. Okay," Renji answered and moved to stand up. He hesitated for a moment, thinking better of his decision.

"But, I kinda like it here. I'll just sit here in case you need anything while you think," the handsome young shinigami told his captain, and revisited his spot on the floor.

Byakuya half-smiled with the part of his lips that Renji couldn't see. "Thank you, Renji," he whispered, and could've (but never would've) laughed with the burst of joy in Renji's reiatsu.

_Thank you for not leaving me_

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Rukia watched her brother as he wrote. She tried to guess what he was writing about-letters to the family, orders on land matters, notes for Renji to transcribe-but she didn't really care. She enjoyed and despised this new warmth (if a slight defrost can be called "warmth") that Byakuya displayed. She sat very near him as he worked and he let her. He let her follow him around the manor. He let her come sit in his office for no reason. He sat outside her room at night watching the stars until long after she finally fell asleep. She wanted him to know everything she wanted, but she had ceased speaking a week ago, the day Orihime had come to her room and given her the news. That she, Orihime, was the reason for Byakuya's unfreezing.

Or whatever terms she had used.

The candlelight was dying when Byakuya turned his head towards her. She met his eyes and the question they held honestly, for once.

"Why was my love not enough? Who else loves you, but me?" Though her eyes teared her voice held steady, as he had taught her.

Byakuya carefully set his pen down without looking away from his sister's gaze. He turned his body towards her fully, something he never had enough respect for most others to do. And he answered her.

"You love me despite who I am. Orihime loves me because of who I am,"

She would have heard him say something else, something that may have comforted her, but she was running through the dark too quickly to hear Byakuya call after her.

_I'm leaving this now_

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Orihime watched Rukia throw her things around her room from the porch outside her room.

_I should leave…_

She set her jaw and frowned. No, she wouldn't give up.

"Rukia-chan, please listen to me once more," she said softly and deftly ducked the ornamental jewelry box that was hurled at her head. Rukia slammed her small army of knick-knacks against the floor, scattered her clothes into the general direction of a cloth traveling bag, and screamed.

"I am not listening to you!"

"I won't leave until you do!"

"You've taken everything from me…"

"When all I wanted was your friendship…"

"He means everything to me…"

"You gave me so much more…"

"He's my family…"

"You've become my family…"

"I thought you were my best friend…"

"I think of you as a sister…"

"How could you take him from me?"

"But I couldn't help loving Byakuya…"

"I love him…"

"As much as I love you…"

"As much as I love you…"

Shinigamis for hundreds of yards around Rukia's room heard a sudden cessation to the female screaming that had woken them. Feeling the tension subside, they turned back over and fell asleep. None of them saw a small black haired shinigami being cradled by a beautiful red-haired human. No one heard them whisper apologies to each other. None of them could understand what the girls where feeling, and no one ever would.

_I will always come back to you _


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